Dan Wang & Ryan Petersen on China, governance, technology, infrastructure, supply chains, ROE

Things a No10 serious about government should again focus on after the PM is replaced

‘The US is ahead of China on the sort of mathematical economics that win Nobel Prizes. But China is ahead of the US on the actual practice of political economy.’ Dan Wang.

‘To show great ROE [Return on Equity], almost every CEO stripped their company of all but the bare minimum of assets. “Just-in-time” everything with no excess capacity, no strategic reserves, no cash on the balance sheet and minimal investment in R&D… Running lean systems may seem beneficial, until the whole system fails like it did this year. We’ve removed the shock absorbers from the economy and it’s time we add them back… There are pointless regulations all over the country.’ Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO of Flexport.

Dan Wang’s 2021 letter and some other pieces (e.g China’s Sputnik Moment) provide fascinating insight into debates about the future of China, US-China-Japan-Russia relations, and the role of the state in developing technology and infrastructure.

Ryan Petersen, the highly respected CEO of Flexport, gave a great interview on logistics, infrastructure and what governments can do to solve supply chain problems.

Much is relevant to what I and others were trying to do in No10 (e.g Project Speed, sadly disbanded) and what a serious No10 should focus on after this PM is replaced. It’s also relevant to the ‘cost of living’ issues that will dominate politics in 2022.